Eurovision 2014 - 06/08/10 May 2014

Yeah Jolly Turnip, Lithuania did not go through...

Och its one of the 'nias' that got through...

Yes, all those people who aren't really interested in the semi-finals, who will sit through an hour and a half of performances and then disappear during the interval act before finding out who actually made it into the final.

Thank goodness for Scott Mills and his cheap filler, that'll keep bums on seats.

Eurovision Song Contest 2014 Semi-Final 2 Results
So here are the results, which were announced in a random order at 21:55 BST. Any use of "tonight" still means Thursday 8 May 2014.

My desired qualifiers: Israel, Norway, Austria, Ireland, Slovenia, Romania; plus any four (and no more) of Malta, Finland, Belarus, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Switzerland.

Actual qualifiers (in order of announcement): Switzerland, Slovenia, Poland, Romania, Norway, Greece, Malta, Belarus, Finland, Austria.

Bold entries represent the actual qualifiers that match my preferences.

OUT: Israel, Georgia, Lithuania, Ireland, F.Y.R. Macedonia.

I'm disappointed and upset that Israel didn't make it through, it was a powerful song which really deserved a place in the final. Also I'm disappointed Ireland failed to qualify. Both Israel and Ireland were among the six best songs of the night. Thank goodness Austria reached the final, albeit the last one to be announced. Conchita's song for Austria was one of the best in tonight's semi-final. I am appalled and disgusted Poland made it through as I thought it was a load of nauseating garbage. To a lesser degree I'm also annoyed Greece are through, I didn't think much of their entry either. Israel and Ireland deserved the places Poland and Greece took. Thank heavens Georgia and Lithuania failed to reach the final as I didn't like either of their songs.

More of my points of view about the qualifiers are on my blog.
Nemesis Nick's Blog: Eurovision Song Contest 2014 Semi-Final 2

It's not as if 10m people won't watch a bit of dancing on Britain's Got Talent or Strictly - it's just so unnecessary and most of all just makes bad TV. Credit though that at least this year they did seem to show all the on stage interval acts, even if they talked through two of them.

Also think the three Danish hosts are doing a pretty decent job, though it'll be a long time until anyone matches up to Petra Mede.

Oh absolutely agree about Petra Mede, she was the star of the whole show without doubt.

This is how the running order for the final currently stands after being drawn at tonight's press conference...

First half

Germany
Azerbaijan
Montenegro
Armenia
Ukraine
Sweden
Iceland
Poland
Romania
Norway
Greece
Belarus
Austria

Second half

United Kingdom
France
Italy
Spain
Hungary
Russia
San Marino
The Netherlands
Switzerland
Slovenia
Malta
Finland
Denmark (has been drawn to perform in 23rd position)

How does that solve the problem?

The problem with text voting is the broadcaster not receiving your vote within the voting window, and thus you casting it, but it not being counted. That's why UK broadcasters don't currently use it. It's nothing to do with receiving a confirmation - it's to do with the broadcaster counting it.

My guess is Red Button and online for the non-voting semifinal that the BBC have no requirement to show, and BBC Two for the voting semifinal (which we do have to show) - though the BBC could conceivably push for a rule change to allow it to be shown on Red Button and online only.

It's never going to get on BBC One. There's no UK interest in a contest we aren't entered in. It's the problem that the EBU have with the Big Five countries and the semifinals. Because they are irrelevant to our entry (i.e. we go straight to the final) they have much less interest as there is zero jeopardy.

Just for the sake of debate, if the UK wasn't one of the biggest supporters and as such had to qualify, do you think on the last couple of occasions with Tyler and Humperdinck we would have actually qualified or crashed out in the semis?

Difficult when the Danish hosts talk about the number on your screen...

One of the complaints about phone vote competitions is when people don't get a chance to write the number down. Strictly put the numbers up before the lines are open for the same reason.

Yes. I'm sure they 'forgot'...